I've had this discussion many times over the years. The fact is if a game dev cannot come up with a great story (I'm looking straight at you Mr. Yerli) they blame there is too much focus on graphics. I put this to you fine folks, since when did graphics become the measuring stick for a great story or for that matter proper sound staging and effects? Please, there is absolutely NOTHING stopping a talented writer from creating a great story or a sound engineer from going the extra mile too have the best possible sound in a game.

I have never been able to wrap my head around the fact that people haven't gotten this very simple fact. Great story+great sound+great visuals=great game. Simple. Caveat, you don't need great graphics to make a great game, that's not my point. But you certainly can't blame a poorly written game on the graphics engine. Or for that matter the desire to push graphics into the future.

I blame a poorly written game on the dev/writer(s). Not on the poor saps that spend thousands of dollars on high end video cards hoping to catch the wave of next gen eye candy.

Was this guy CEO during Crysis 2? The game with posted videos of people walking through entire levels without firing a single shot, yet without dying? Graphics are 60% of the game when that's all you have to offer.

Graphics, like most things, are a case of diminishing returns - the first 20% tends to get you 80% of the way there. I can't remember the last time I particularly noticed the difference between "High" and "Ultra" shadow settings, although I appreciate it when they're the same resolution as the object that cast them. Or the difference between 8xAA and 16xAA, although the first level or two definitely helps.

While I agree with the general concensus that graphics shouldn't be weighted at 60% importance, my personal opinion is that they should be balanced completely with all things inclusive. I played minecraft for 2 weeks, and got bored of the retro style graphics. The gameplay was fun for a while but I got bored of the sandboxing anyways. Regardless I don't have an expensive PC to play 8 bit looking games.

Look at Skyrim. Graphic were pretty good at launch, (Better now) good story-line, good replay-ability, every facet of that game was good. And that's how it should be. It's a fallacy that there needs to be a sacrifice in order to attain a preference. Every measurable point can be well balanced in order to create an immersive experience.

I think that it is also funny in that older games like Diablo 2 LOD still have full servers yet the graphics are not good at all , also games like SWTOR graphics ae not that good but the servers are quit busy . I really noticed t hat the games with very good graphics are 1 very short game play and 2 just plain suck when it comes to story line . and the size of some of these games are just ridiculous like SWTOR is 20Gb and the graphics are not good . it seems that they are spended allot of money on the shiny new things and not spending nearly enough on story lines